Marans for egg color or for bird color?

[L&Schickens]

I am slowly building funds to buy some Marans chicks. I want to be marketable so they can at least pay for their own feed and housing. I found my breeder, but now must choose. Bird color or egg color? He has some very pretty blue cuckoos that are the same price as black coppers. Should I get some blue just for the birds beauty or stick with the egg color of the BC?

 

[Solsken Farm]

Loren, some Cuckoos lay very dark eggs. Find out what # eggs these birds typically lay and go from there. And pick what your favorites are.

I have Wheatens, Copper Blacks, Copper Blues and Cuckoos in my bators right now. The Copper blues and blacks are the darkest but not by much. It is also pretty late in the laying season and some are from pullets.

I hope you found a good breeder.

Good luck!

 

[onthespot]

I would go with egg color over bird color if you want to sell eggs. I would give some leeway on bird color unless it was a non-recognized color or a sport (unless you REALLY LIKED that sport, but I wouldn't breed it or try to sell the eggs except for eating.)

Were you planning to sell eggs for hatching, or for eating? If for eating, the birds can be purple and plaid and the eggs will taste the same. If you want people to pay a lot for your eggs, the birds must be large, well feathered, proper color, good dispositions, proven lines of dark producing eggs, without known traits like slow feathering, excessive white, combs with too many points, extra comb growths toward the back that look deormed, straigt toes, proper leg and beak color, all that. It get's complicated and it is hard to find the ideal combination that will go on to reproduce themselves and continue to have dark eggs. That is why some lines are more expensive, and I would suggest getting the most proven lines you can. Sometimes you can get them one generation removed from the well known breeders like Bev Davis, bayhorsebonne, and pay somewhat less and avoid year long waiting lists or very high prices. That is just my .02 worth.

 

[L&Schickens]

I was going to order from Roy Valentine. He sent a picture of his BC eggs and said the Cuckoo layed nearly as dark and they are from directly imported birds. His Cuckoos are much less expensive then the BC and the Blue Cuckoos, so I might just get them instead. I really like the look of the blue, but if the Cuckoos lay a darker egg, I guess that is what I am going to get.

Thanks for helping me decide.

 

[Katy]

My cuckoos lay darker eggs than the 2 blue hens I've got. My birds aren't from him, but here's a link to what my cuckoos lay at the beginning of their cycle.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=103244

 

[L&Schickens]

Beautiful eggs.
I think I will shop around a little more. I would rather go with buying chicks them eggs for sure, but there are more people with eggs for sale then chicks in the spring.

 

[Katy]

If you go with chicks make sure you know how dark the eggs they hatched from were.